DITirCT IXJURIES CAUSED BY INSECTS. 10.0 



first in vain. And no wonder; for, as he learned from 

 a neigldiour, his predecessor would never snffer them 

 to be disturbed or his bedsteads to be removed, till, in 

 the end, tlsey swarmed to an incredible degree, crawl- 

 ing up even the walls of his drawing-room; and after 

 his death millions were found in his bed and chamber 

 furniture "*. 



The winged insects of the order to which the bed-bug 

 belongs, often inilict very painful wounds. — I was once 

 attacked by a small species, Ciinex Nemorum^ L. I be- 

 lieve, which put me nearly to as much torture as the 

 sting of a wasp. The water boatman, (Notonecta glauca, 

 L.,) an insect related to the Cimicidce, which always 

 swims upon its back, made me suffer still more severe- 

 ly, as if I had been burned, by the insertion of its ro- 

 strum; but the wound was not followed by any inflam- 

 mation; and long before me Willughby had made the 

 same discovery and observation''. St. Pierre, in his 

 Voj/age to Mauritius, mentions a species of bug found 

 in that island, the bite of which is more venomous than 

 the sting of a scorpion, and is succeeded by a tumour 

 as big as the egg of a.pigeon, v/hich continues for four 

 or five days. You are well acquainted with the history 

 and properties of the Raia Torpedo and Gymnolus ehc- 



Toy visit, <he hospital contained horses, mules, oxen, sheep, sffaf", mon- 

 keys, poi'Jtry, pigeons, asid a variety of birds. The most extraordin;iry 

 ward was t.'bsX appropriated to rats and mice, bugs, and other noxious v<t- 

 min. The overseers of the hospital frequently hire beggars from the 

 streets, for a stipulated swm, to pass a night amongst i'mjlens, lice, and 

 bugs, on the express condition of suffering thcm^o enjoy their feast with- 

 out molestation. Forbes's Oriental Memuirs. 



* Nicholson's J^oMma/, zvii. 40 " ProbosrJsin catem intrn^a 



aperrimim doloreia cscilat, q n tamen brevi cessat- Rai. liiu. Im. 58, , 



